Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Video: Cat Behavior 101Cats are as social, active and expressive as dogs if you know how to read their signs. Debbye Turner Bell spoke to Erica Hill about decoding a cat's behavior to understand their needs.

(CBS) There are actually more pet cats in the United States than dogs, yet dogs firmly hold the title of man's best friend. Many say it's because dogs are easier to understand.

Bell asked Abramson whether she feels she knows what her cats are thinking and how they feel at any given moment. "I do," Abramson responded, "because each cat is unique in their own way. They have different meows that I recognize."

McComb told CBS News, "When they want to be fed, they give this particular purr, which has the cry embedded in it."

Cats, Bell said, have a "feed me" purr and a "regular" purr. McComb has captured them on audio and deciphered the differences between them.

McComb said, "They're good at using a signal, learning to use a signal that has an outcome that is good for them."

Abramson added, "They tell you when they want to be picked up, they tell you when they want to be taken care of, they tell you when they want to eat."

That's why, Bell said, feline fans everywhere say kitties get a bad rap. Some people think the only way to understand cats would be if they could talk.

Dr. Plotnick, a feline specialist, said, "Cats are very misunderstood. People think they're aloof, that they're sort of snobby. When nothing could be further from the truth."

Plotnick says you just have to know how to read their signs.

"Ears and tail tell you a lot," he said. "When they're happy they're ears tend to stand straight up and their tail is straight up in the air."

And of course, a mad cat may hiss. Plotnick pointed out one feline behavior that you may not understand: constant rubbing. It doesn't, he said, mean that the cat has an itch.

"Cats are territorial creatures," he explained. "And they like to mark out their territory. They have glands in their face that release a pheromone and they're sort of marking your -- they're claiming you as their territory."

However, even Plotnick agrees cats are a bit complicated.

"They don't try to please you to try to obtain a reward," he said. "They live life on their own terms and they hope that you like it."

Dr. Arnold Plotnick (MS, DVM, ACVIM) blogs about professional and personal life experiences as an expert in the field of feline veterinary medicine.

Dr. Arnold Plotnick is a board-certified veterinary internist, feline expert, and the founder of Manhattan Cat Specialists. In addition to his medical work, he is an award-winning veterinary medicine writer.